Page 49 of Almost a Countess

Aunt Mimi gave a bark oflaughter.

Finn sent Dora a withering look. “Aye,it will.”

“Please, Finn?” She putevery ounce of pleading into her voice. He simply had to agree.“You promised.”

Finn looked from Aunt Mimi to Dora andback again and sighed. “Devil take it.” Finn’s face was a study, asthough caught squarely between Scylla and Charybdis. “Very well.”He eyed Dora then nodded to her aunt. “Under great duress, I havedecided tae accept the offer o’ yer carriage, Duchess. And all itsattendant conditions. I only hope ye’ve a spare bum roll aboutye.”

Even with that battle won, there wereseveral delays that tried Dora’s soul.

First was Aunt Mimi’s insistence thatshe must have more than one day of rest after the grueling five-dayjourney she’d just endured before attempting it yet again. Heroriginal plan had been to stay with Dora for a month beforeventuring back to London. Finn’s plight, however, had put paid tothat plan. Her aunt had agreed they would venture out as quickly aspossible, but in the end, they remained at Bromley for a week whileher aunt rested and Finn was outfitted with several gowns, a wig,and a hat for his disguise.

Marcella proved a wonder at alteringthe gowns Dora’s mother had left at the estate some years before.She also restyled her father’s gray wig into a more femininecoiffure and at last, on the first day of September, Dora, AuntMimi, and Finn set out for London. They rode in style in the grandducal carriage that Dora’s aunt took everywhere with her. Theintrepid Marcella and Larkin followed behind with the luggage inDora’s small, plain carriage.

She and Aunt Mimi sat on theforward-facing plush leather seat in the palatial carriage, theinterior a pleasant cream color. Finn sat in the backward facingseat, decked out in a blue jacquard gown, trimmed in ecru lace. Theensemble was finished with a delicate mobcap worn atop the newlystyled gray wig. It had been quite disturbing for Dora to see theman she loved dressed in her mother’s clothing, looking like apassable imitation of her parent. But if he could stand to wear it,she could stand to see it.

“In the end, LordAberfoyle, what made you decide to agree to my conditions?” AuntMimi cocked her head at him, although she glanced at Dora aswell.

“Dora did, Yer Grace.” Heshot a rueful look at her, and Dora smiled back. “She reminded methat I had promised tae accept the terms, nae matter what. If I getDora as my wife in the end, then what’s a little…embarrassment?”“

“Well spoken, my lord.”Aunt Mimi settled back in the butter-soft leather seats. “If youradventure ends well, I shall have something to say to Lord Downingon your behalf.” Closing her eyes, Aunt Mimi immediately began tosnore gently.

Quietly, Finn took Dora’s hand in his.“How dae women put up with all these confounded clothes?” He pulledat his bodice, which had been amply stuffed, making his bosomappear lopsided so he punched it back into place, sending Dora intoa fit of giggles. “I suppose if one is willing tae suffer for loveo’ another, one is often rewarded.”

“And what will be yourreward, my love?” He’d overcome some strange personal aversion towearing women’s clothing just so they could be together on thisjourney. She’d love to give him something in return.

He gazed deeply into her eyes. “Myring on yer finger, love, is the only reward I seek.”

****

The day was hot for the beginning ofSeptember, so Lieutenant Geoffrey Scarlet was glad to call a haltwhen they reached The Green Tree Inn in the village of Brompton.He’d had to head a little off the main road from Leeds to get here,but he deemed it well worth the extra time. They’d visited the innseveral times while searching for the accursed Scot and while Mrs.Jameson wasn’t the most cordial of hostesses, her cakes and alewere some of the best he’d encountered. “Dismount. We’ll give Mrs.Jameson our custom one last time then head toward the Great NorthRoad.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”Gates, the first man on the ground, looped his reins around thepost and bolted into the inn. The rest of the men followed suit,leaving Scarlet alone to brood.

After a week of fruitless searching inand around Leeds, they were headed back to Edinburgh with nothingto show for the past few weeks except empty hands. Scarlet wasn’tsure how his superiors would take the news that he’d lost thetreasonous Scotsman, save it would not be with welcoming arms.Considering the only information he’d sent his commanding officer,just after he’d arrested Aberfoyle, had been he was heading toEdinburgh with a prisoner, he might be able to spin a tale in whichthe loss of said prisoner wasn’t his fault but one of his men’s.Either way, this had been a right fiasco from the beginning andthere would surely be a reckoning for him when he finally returnedto the garrison.

Scarlet dismounted, hitched his horseto the iron post in front of the inn—still grateful to have foundConqueror after the bastard had taken him—and strode into theestablishment. His men had taken a table at the far end, and abarmaid was already distributing pints to them all.

“Mrs. Jameson.” He removedhis hat and nodded to the inn’s owner. “Cakes and ale for mymen.”

“Good day, lieutenant.”The lady gave him one brief nod. “I hadn’t seen you in a week ormore. Thought you’d left us for good already.”

Certain the woman had wished it true,Scarlet shook his head, a scowl on his face. “If only that were so.Unfortunately, Leeds proved as disappointing as this godforsakenhamlet.”

She eyed him and pursed her lips.“From the look of you, you’re no better off than before youleft.”

“As you see no prisonerwith us, your observation is uncommonly astute, madam.” Scarletsnared a pint from the passing barmaid’s tray, took a long pull,and sighed.

“You’re movin’ on, then,lieutenant?” Relief showed in the woman’s face.

“As soon as we partake ofyour cakes and quench our thirst, we are heading back to our billetin Scotland.” He had to work hard to keep the bitterness out of hisvoice.

“Then I wish you all asafe journey, lieutenant.” With the first genuine smile he’d hadfrom her, Mrs. Jameson headed to the kitchen and returned with atray of the sugary cakes. “Help yourselves.”

Scarlet grabbed two before shecontinued over to the table and the eager faces of hismen.

The bell above the door rang as agentleman Scarlet didn’t know entered and strode to the bar besidehim. “Good day to you, Mrs. Jameson. Have you a bit of the cottagepie for me today?”

“Good day, Mr. Cardrew,”Mrs. Jameson called as she turned from the soldiers’ table, hertray completely empty. “Take your seat, and I’ll bring it toyou.”